Congress does not release reports done by the Congressional Research Service to the public, even though taxpayers fund them. Thanks to the Federation of American Scientists' Government Secrecy Project, you can read them anyway.

BookShelf

"The Last Ocean: Antarctica's Ross Sea Project: Saving the Most Pristine Ecosystem on Earth"

By John Weller
Rizzoli, $50

Reviewer: JENNIFER WEEKS

Few Americans have probably heard of the Ross Sea, which is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean next to Antarctica. But many know about Chilean sea bass, a mild white fish that has been popular in high-end restaurants for more than 15 years.

Five years after wildlife biologist Charles Monnett's 2006 observations of dead polar bears, believed to have drowned because of disappearing Arctic ice, Interior started an investigation of Monnett's science. The findings — partially published September 28, 2012 — were confused and contained no findings of scientific misconduct.

A retired University of Alaska professor, represented by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, went to court for the testing data on which Interior's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement approval was based, after the agency violated the FOIA by not responding within the required 20-day period.